California lawmakers approved a package of sweeping tobacco-control bills that would regulate the manufacture and sale of electronic cigarettes, and make California the nation's second state to increase the legal smoking age from 18 to 21.
The lawmakers said that the bills will prevent young people from taking up smoking and forming a lifelong habit. Moreover, it will make much harder for teens to get access to tobacco because 18-year-old high school students could not be able to buy it for their underage friends.
As per Assemblyman Jim Wood, the bills would save the medical system in the outgoing years millions of dollars. Thus, it would save thousands of lives
"Adolescent brains are uniquely vulnerable to the effects of nicotine and nicotine addiction. 18-year-olds are much more likely to buy tobacco products for their 14-, 15-, 16-year-old friends," said Wood.
Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, who authored the e-cigarette bill, stated, "Big Tobacco's assault on youth and taxpayers was dealt a major setback today when the Legislature came to the rescue of Californians. Tobacco-free habits save lives and billions of taxpayer health care dollars."
However, Republicans said that, the government should not restrict people's freedom to make their own decisions.
"I don't smoke. I don't encourage my children to. But they are adults, and it's our job to treat our citizens as adults, not to nanny them," Assemblyman Donald Wagner said.
Another Assemblyman Chad Mayes said that California believes in the ideas of individual liberty and in the freedom of choice. Thus, people can buy the products that they want even though it will cause them in danger. She concluded that lawmakers' action went beyond the basic ideals.
The age to purchase tobacco would remain 18 for members of the military.
Other bills approved by the assembly were:
a. Expand the ban on workplace smoking to include warehouses, gambling clubs, motel lobbies, covered parking lots and other public areas left out of a previous law;
b. Increase the tobacco-free campus law to include all areas of charter schools and public school facilities and offices;
c. Raise the licensing fee for tobacco retailers from a one-time $100 charge per location to $265 annually, and boost the annual fee for distributors and wholesalers from $1,000 to $1,200, to better cover the state's costs of enforcement.
The executive director of the National Association of Tobacco Outlets said that the new change does not recognize that 18-year-olds are adults who are trusted with the responsibility to vote and serve in the military, and therefore can handle being responsible in their consumption of tobacco.
Meanwhile, the Centers for Disease and Prevention shared, "Cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable disease and death in the United States, accounting for more than 480,000 deaths every year, or 1 of every 5 deaths with more than 16 million."
California's Board of Equalization estimated that if the bill becomes a law it is expected to reduce U.S. industry sales by 43 million packs of cigarettes over the 2016-to-2017 fiscal years. At an average price of $5.96 per pack, that would equate to about $256 million in lost sales and would reduce California's excise- and sales-tax revenue by an estimated $68.4 million.
Following the cities of New York, Boston, Kansas, Evanston, similar legislation will be considered by other states, including Massachusetts and Illinois. Hawaii became the first to implement this kind of bill.
